"Here’s the good thing about a trend in sex tourism," writes our racially/ethnically diverse younger sibling, Stereohyped.
"It doesn’t entail rich white men traveling to third world countries to prey on underaged girls and boys." (With the possible exception of Jeffrey "I Devirginized The Virgin Islands" Epstein.) Meanwhile, it does, however, "entail rich white women traveling to places like Kenya to live out their Mandingo fantasies with 20-something men who will only have sex with them in exchange for new sneakers and free meals."
Disturbing? On many, many levels. In fact, despite the alarming AIDS epidemic, local Kenyans estimate that approximately 20% of "single female visitors" are trolling the beaches for sex. So the next time an undersexed, overprivileged WASP prissily informs you she's heading to Kenya, bear in mind that there's at least a 1 in 5 chance she's looking to open up a whole lot more than her pocketbook once she gets there.
Although we can’t seem to shake the nasty habit of writing in the royal we, occasionally one of our editors decides to shake off the cloak of anonymity to write a short, pithy statement long, rambling diatribe about a topic of their choice. Today, Debbie Newman is that editor.
When reading this week's Sunday Styles, we couldn't help but notice New York Times reporter Mayrav Saar's insightful/disturbing piece about an emerging breed of teenage paparazzi and the unfit parents who enable them. Being awkward, introspective types, we've taken the liberty of preemptively injecting ourselves into these parents' mindsets. Our objective? To figure out what rationalizations will justify allowing your child to shun boring things like "high school," "prom" and "normal adolescence" in favor of the glitz and glamour inherent to stalking celebrities in exchange for monetary compensation.
Our theories, after the jump.
"NICOLE Kidman and Keith Urban are movin' out. The couple have put their four-bedroom, five-bath home - which includes a gym, pool and spa - in a ritzy section of Nashville up for sale," reports Page Six. Congrats on the big move, you two! We know just the right men for the job.
“I know people looking in from the outside will ask why someone like me keeps working so hard,” Mr. Steger says. “But a few million doesn’t go as far as it used to. Maybe in the ’70s, a few million bucks meant ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,’ or Richie Rich living in a big house with a butler. But not anymore.”
–From the Technology section of yesterday's New York Times
Not sure yet whether you've made it financially? Ask yourself the following: Are you living in a $6.5 million Soho loft with 13-foot ceilings, with original "hand-hewn timber columns?" Is Lenny Kravitz your next door neighbor? Have you ever sold your apartment to an anonymous buyer with "old European money" and then described the hard-working members of the "building staff" as "little puppies wagging their tails eager to do something to help you out?"
"In the marketing of Hala," writes the New York Times, "nonbillionaires need not apply."
Confused? So were we! Until we realized they were obvs talking about Hala Ranch, a sprawling 95-acre estate (with 15 bedrooms, 16 baths and "a private barbershop and beauty salon just off the master suite") located just northwest of downtown Aspen, Colarado and built in 1991 for the family of Prince Bandar bin Sultan.
Which, for a paltry $135 million, could be yours! So it's no wonder that broker Joshua Saslove has gotten a little, shall we say, "choosy."
Thanks, as always to the New York Times, for offering us a glimpse (however brief) of a world in which separate his and hers master bedroom wings are standard fare, ungrateful children resent their parents for audaciously buying them expensive Williamsburg lofts and material assets are generally disposed of almost as quickly as they are accrued.
Today's lesson: How to tastefully ruin that day-old couture wedding gown
Want to learn how to stretch a dollar? It's simple, says Times' editor Damon Darlin, so long as you're prepared to learn how to cook, ignore any/all raises, curb that morning latte habit and get married—for tax purposes, of course.
[Ed: Interestingly, Darlin neglects to group TimesSelect membership fees in with those other so-called "extraneous" expenses.]
And, as Darlin is quick to remind us, this is not his first foray into doling out penny-pinching advice. In fact, he previously wrote a similar cost-cutting column for the Times, which was then forwarded by thousands of overprotective mothers (using some kind of newfangled technology called "the internets") and subsequently rejected by their sons and daughters, some of whom were even pissed enough to write Darlin a not-so-formal email.
Editorial Director
